Public Address: the Liberation of Zoness,
Dr. E. Andross.

I am appalled that Corneria has done absolutely nothing to ease the suffering Zoness has endured; nothing! No government-sanctioned aid, no relief effort, not even consultation. Corneria –who's military would swoop in at any place in Lylat with a full strike force at a moments notice, but only to guard or gain valuable resources they so gleefully cherish, or to keep one of their pathetic puppet governments afloat a little while longer– has once again turned a blind eye to the living agony in which so many people find themselves these days.

How can we, in good conscience, continue to let the people of Zoness suffer so? This so-called 'civil conflict' was born of the very same greed and corruption that has long infested Lylat, against which the Coalition of Venom strives to overcome. Corneria will say the same, but unlike our dear Cornerian friends, the Coalition stays true to its mantra. Therefore, the armed forces of the Venom Coalition will soon descend upon Zoness, where they will bring a swift end to immediate hostilities, and then remain to guard the tender time to come. That is when our diplomats, our ambassadors, our bookish experts will oversee the transition period as we lay the foundation for the peace that Zoness has so desperately needed...

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Bank


/

Comments,
Anonymous former member of Lylat Central Intelligence.

When Zoness did finally join the Venom Coalition, it was technically voluntarily, but the powerless government of Zoness wasn't really left much choice. The planet was quite literally ripping itself apart with its civil war, with multiple sub-factions all vying for an edge and maneuvering to grasp control. When the military forces of Venom came to Zoness, much of the population greeted the foreign soldiers with a kind of exasperated gratitude. They were thankful and hopeful that the chaos and carnage would at last be brought to an end, stamped down with the iron fist of Venom.

Inevitably, such action was interpreted vastly differently by outside observers, depending on which side they supported. Corneria and aligned parties largely saw Venom's military campaign as a kind of forced subjugation, pressed on the planet through brazen military strong-arming. Meanwhile, Venom's side called this same campaign "The Liberation of Zoness", as they rescued the planet from the bloody civil war that had plagued the world for far too long.

Sasha Zura and her squad did participate in the campaign. Their postings were largely routine –deep scouting, covert support, local resistance training– the usual spec ops wartime work. There was one mission though that stood out, one that greatly affected her views. That mission was Operation: Bank

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/

Today was the big day: the day that Macbeth's spec-ops fireteam Theta-Four, under the command of Captain Sasha Zura, would play its part in "Operation: Bank".

The operation was entirely from Venom Intelligence, not something the military branches came up with. The basic idea: in the midst of a major offensive wave into the Port Seyid Government Quarter, a small infiltration detail would break into a building in the city's central business district –away from the major military activity– and retrieve... well, something. Venom Intelligence wasn't exactly keen on giving out crucial details, not to those who didn't need them anyway.

The agent in charge of Bank –a cold, flinty tigress called Janice Moreau– had gone to Macbeth Special Operations in need of a strong, capable, but small group of soldiers for the initial part of her mission. Since Sasha's squad had experience in Port Seyid before, and had done particularly well in their training for covert urban infiltration, Sasha's unit was at the top of the short list given to Moreau.

Also, at Connor Griffon's full-hearted recommendation, the mercenary Alastar Korvyn was brought in for Bank. He was already working with infantry commanders in Port Seyid, as a consultant of sorts, since he knew the city's streets intuitively from his time working under Cooney, and could offer key intel on the area. Korvyn's intimate knowledge of the area, as well as his solid combat chops, made him a valuable asset to Sasha's squad for their part of Bank. Personally, Sasha wasn't so sure about working with Alastar again, but those feelings weren't nearly strong enough to object, not with the clear advantages he'd be giving the squad for this mission.

They'd all gathered for the briefing the day before the operation, in a secluded area in an infantry regiment's staging ground in the spaceport hangar. While the rest of the troops were preparing for the next day's major offensive, Team Theta-Four was given further details on something entirely unrelated. When some of infantry asked what Spec Ops was up to, the commanders simply told them, 'They're Spec Ops, they'll be supporting you.'

The target building was Axiom Tower, in Port Seyid's central business district: a gigantic piece of architectural engineering spectacle, as well as the main headquarters of Axiom Tech. The company was a fairly major technology company, responsible for more than a few vehicle and weapon designs, as well as several more mundane items of high-technology. Sasha could only figure that Venom Intelligence had their eye on some key piece of tech, or schematics, or something of the like, and that getting it was vital.

The exact details for Operation: Bank were finalized that day, rehearsed, and the next day, team Theta-Four was well underway without a hitch...

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/

The main wave of infantry mobilized early in the morning. The several platoons loaded into transports, accompanied by armored fighting vehicles, with the constant whir of air support craft buzzing overhead. It was going to be a meat grinder, there in the government quarter. Over a dozen different militia factions had holed up there, and as far as Sasha knew, exact intelligence on them was spotty at best. As the last of the transports and escort rolled off, Captain Zura wished them the best of luck. They'd need it...

Sasha's Team Theta-Four had loaded up in a small, civilian ground transport, specially prepared by Venom Intelligence for this mission. The squad was outfitted in 'mercenary gear' again, similar to their previous mission with Connor Griffon. Only this time, they were much more heavily armed, and laden with more of their specialized gear. As apart of the infiltration, they couldn't appear as apart of any military unit. So it was 'mercenaries' again, in a 'civilian' transport.

The ride toward the central business district was thankfully uneventful. As the transport got further away from the spaceport, closer to the business district, the denser urban structures gave way to wider, better maintained streets, and buildings that rose steadily higher, and with grander, more modern architecture. The transport stopped short of actually entering the central business district, where the monumental towers and gleaming spires dominated the area, where Axiom tower was. They didn't plan on entering the area at street-level anyway, since it would've been impossible to do without compromising the mission.

The businesses that owned those monolithic testaments to architectural hubris weren't involved, at least not openly, in the bloody militia activity that tore up the more densely packed areas. The militias also didn't bother trying to gain territory or footholds here. For one, the buildings' owners had hired an absolutely staggering number of mercenaries and private contractors to guard the towers. Barricades and pillboxes were set up at nearly every street corner, while armored vehicles and mercenary patrols weaved through the area regularly. Each building and the surrounding area was essentially on hermetically sealed lock-down status.

The catch here was that the mercenary protection wasn't itself unified. Each major tower or complex had their own little mercenary guard detail for themselves, and as far as previous intel could tell, there was no coordination. The companies were just as weary –if not more worried– about each other as they were about a militia raid. Many competing firms had major offices and holdings in the Port Seyid central business district, and in the midst of the bloody military campaign occurring now, many of these corporations were suspicious that their competitors might try to pull something and then blame it on militia or military activity. Thus: the most extensive mercenary protection one can buy, legally or otherwise.

The transport soon came to a stop at the edge of the mercenary patrolled zone, and the engine died down. Sasha Zura and the rest of team Theta-Four sat tucked in the passenger compartment, all outfitted in their 'mercenary' gear. Alastar was there too, in his well-equipped setup, with even a few more items now than he had before. He kept a very professional demeanor, very cool, but at times looked just a little worried. Sasha felt some concern over that, but was at least glad to see that Alastar had done fairly well for himself since their last meeting.

As the transport settled, and their driver exited the vehicle, the squad got up and made their preparations. Xavier and Vance made themselves busy with their specialized equipment, while Fletcher, Korvyn and Zura got weapons prepared. They weren't expecting trouble this early on, but it never hurt to be prepared, just in case.

"So, chief..." Gavin said during all this, getting Sasha's attention. He seemed just a little too pleased with himself, and Sasha soon found out why. "How is it working with your boyfriend again?"

"Stuff it!" Alastar snapped, flashing an angry glare at Gavin. "It's not like that and you know it!"

"Oooh! And the boyfriend gets testy!" the avian soldier mocked, much to Alastar's chagrin.

The wiry canid looked just about ready to punch Gavin across his beak. Sasha needed to intervene in the situation, before things got out of hand.

"What seems to be the issue here, Fletcher?" Sasha asked, putting on her best 'Captain's voice'.

"Nothing chief!" Gavin recited back in perfect soldier cadence. "Just curious for my C.O.'s thoughts on our guest, Captain!"

"Pffff, yeah, right," Xavier scoffed under his breath from nearby.

"I ask because your first question implied intimate fraternization..." Sasha kept her steady, authoritarian demeanor, and continued. "Am I to understand you're jealous that Korvyn couldn't be your 'boyfriend'?"

The avian soldier was struck absolutely silent, while a mortified expression sprung onto his face. Silas and Anton burst out laughing, and the large reptilian nearly dropped the satchel charge he was packing. Alastar gave a small chuckle as he looked at the situation, and for his part seemed relieved, for now at least.

All this was put aside when the intercom in the passenger compartment clicked on, and a voice asked, "Ready?"

Sasha looked to her squadmates, who all gave an affirmative nod, and she replied, "We're ready."

Then with a whir of small motors, the floor of their compartment slid open, showing the bare street below, and a manhole cover. Xavier bent down with the right tool, and hoisted the heavy steel plate out of its place. Fletcher flipped on the flashlight mounted on his rifle and went down ahead, sliding about ten feet down the the narrow tube until his feet hit the deck at the bottom.

"Clear," he said, just loud enough to be heard by his squadmates above.

One by one, the rest of team Theta-four dropped down the manhole into the utilities tunnel below. Gavin switched off the flashlight, putting the squad in the all-concealing darkness that they'd conceal themselves in. The night-vision function of their headset would be more than adequate for them to see by. Those who hadn't already went about fastening noise suppressors to their firearms. Then when the last of them came down, the squad moved ahead toward their objective...

For Sasha, and the rest of her squad she figured, this felt very much like 'the Gauntlet' training scenario they went through before. The mechanical routine, intuitive reflexes, unfolded naturally. It was as if Sasha's reflexes and muscle-memory alone could handle the mission, leaving her mind to think about other things, to assess, to plan, and to speculate.

While team Theta-four moved on ahead, Alastar remained behind, near the open manhole just outside the light, rifle up and ready. He had a plan, which he'd discussed earlier with the squad, but Sasha had her doubts it would work out. Just to be on the safe side, the husky stayed back a little, allowing Fletcher, Vance and Xavier to advance ahead and scout.

Not even a minute passed since they first dropped down, and there was activity at the manhole. Another figure had stepped down the ladder, into the tunnel. The newcomer's feet didn't even make it to the floor when Alastar opened fire: first muffled shot went in the head, and several others after he fell, body still convulsing as he quickly died. The only sound was the brief 'sizzle' of a the blaster shots searing through flesh, accompanied by flashes of red in the darkness.

When it was done, Alastar slung the rifle over his shoulder, and went back with the rest of the squad. His plan had worked, and he joined Sasha and the rest of the squad as they moved on...

Alastar figured that someone would be watching the area, probably somewhere hidden. As soon as the transport moved away, the spotter would send a scout to investigate. Just as predicted, the mercenary scout came, and Alastar was there waiting to take him out. They weren't in exactly immediate danger, since the whole area here was flooded with wireless jamming signals, courtesy of the mercenary companies themselves no less. Still, someone would be checking up sometime.

This is why, further ahead, Corporal Xavier was preparing an explosive that would cave in the tunnel behind them, set on a timer instead of a remote-detonator because of the jamming signal saturation. Meanwhile, Specialist Vance already activated his wrist-mounted computing interface, with a small spool of wire connected to the interface unwinding. The primate had already sent his multi-use spider drone ahead, again, using a direct wired link due to the jamming saturation.

It wasn't long –a couple minutes at most– before Vance gave his all clear, and the squad began moving forward again. On their way, they passed a security camera: the very same one Vance sent his spider drone ahead to help him hack, and send a constant still image as 'live footage', covering the squad's advance. Every so often, the squad would hold for a minute as Vance repeated the procedure each time he spotted another layer of surveillance.

Sasha couldn't help but marvel at how useful that new spider drone was turning out to be. It was a tiny, remote-operated drone that walked on small gripping legs –hence 'spider'– and no larger than a hand. It was capable of performing many intricate small-scale scouting and interfacing procedures, with the benefit of being very small and very quiet. It even had the capability to 'run cold' for a time, storing all the heat it would generate under normal use, as opposed to emitting it normally, which allowed it to pass through thermal sensors undetected.

After several more minutes of their careful, silent advance through the dark tunnels, the squad spotted the faint glow of light around the next corner. They were nearing their destination now, almost directly under Axiom tower. Vance sent the spider drone ahead to peek around the corner. A moment later, the ape gave the hand signal for 'two armed sentries', and gestured Alastar and Sasha to approach.

The two canids did, and Vance showed them the display of what the spider drone could see. There were indeed two armed guards standing watch down the corridor, with a very sturdy looking blast-door behind them. The guards were each standing behind heavy waist-level barricades, with a comm terminal mounted on one of the walls, and a pair of security cameras covering the space. Behind that door was undoubtedly the utilities hub for Axiom Tower, as well as another layer of security, namely: a forward monitoring station and at least a few more guards on standby, probably with greater firepower. They would be the response force if the two outer sentries came across trouble.

The key to succeeding here would be speed, and timing.

"Xavier," Sasha whispered, barely audible, but she knew it was loud enough for the reptile to hear.

"Hm?" he grunted softly, looking up.

"Take a look here," Sasha said, gesturing for Xavier to come closer. He did so, and Sasha directed him to the Vance's display of the hallway. "Do you have what you need to make a quick hole in that door?"

The reptilian engineer examined it for a few seconds, then informed his commander, "looks like reinforced double-layered tempered steel. Pretty good; normal breaching charges won't cut through it..."

Xavier stepped back a second, quietly, and switched around some of his gear. Sasha looked to the busy reptile, hoping for a definitive reply. When Xavier was done, he'd swapped out his rifle for a grenade launcher, and was loading a number of specialized shells into the launcher's drum magazine. He gave Sasha a smug look, and made sure she could clearly see the labels on the grenade canisters as he loaded them. Then the husky understood instantly: cryo gel.

Captain Zura motioned for Gavin to take a firing position, specifically 'kill the cameras'. Alastar readied his sword, and an item on his belt that began emitting a low, quiet whine. Silas put his gear away and got ready to move, while Xavier made final preparations with the grenade launcher, and Sasha herself pulled a smoke canister off her belt.

With everyone in ready positions, she gave the nod, and lobbed the smoke grenade around the corner down the corridor where the two guards waited. She heard the two sentries startle for a moment, and with a dull boof, they were in full panic mode. Gavin strafed coolly across the hall, and fired a couple bursts of muffled blasterfire into the mist filled corridor. The two sounds of blasted equipment let everyone know the avian soldier hit his marks. Xavier followed immediately behind, firing a few of his grenades into the smoke with a hollow plunk-plunk-plunk.

This happened over the course of about a second.

The moment Xavier passed, Alastar took a position in the center of this end of the corridor, and assumed a ready stance with his sword, as if he intended to strike a target directly ahead of him. Then–

Ping... Shwoop!

In a flash of ghostly blue lines, Alastar bolted down through the corridor. He used the phantom module to close the distance to close-quarters range, something the Cornerian Dragoons used extensively from what Alastar told. In another second, two agonized screams of death, and the thump of two bodies hitting the floor reverberated through the space. Sasha motioned for Gavin, Anton, and Silas to proceed straight down the smoky corridor toward the blast door, which they all did...

The squad met up with Alastar, who now activated another item –this one attached to his wrist– his entire form began to shimmer, encased in a glowing shell: a personal repulsion field.

The squad took up door-breach positions, Zura and Vance on one side, with Fletcher and Xavier on the other. Everyone who hadn't already had now switched out for a rifle, ready to lay down a wide field of fire on the other side. Alastar however stood right up against the door, where the cryo gel was quickly hardening and turning icy white, while the heavy steel of the door groaned and buckled from the strain of such a sudden temperature change. The scruffy canid shot a quick glance to Sasha, and she nodded back her silent order.

Alastar took a deep breath, raised his sword over his shoulder, and smashed the heavy pommel against the center of the frozen blast door. There was a sickening crack at the strike, which lingered for a few moments, until most of the door crumbled away, like it was nothing more than glass. Alastar stepped through the broken door, drawing a handgun in his right hand and firing several shots down the next corridor. He was greeted in turn by a torrent of hostile blasterfire, all of which was staved off by his repulsion field, for now...

Sasha gave her squad the hand signal, and everyone peered around their respective corners.

There was about a squad's worth of hostile mercenaries, many having taken positions behind another set of barricades. The monitoring station was right there, as expected, behind this next layer of defense. They needed to move fast

Sasha, Gavin, Anton and Silas all picked targets, and opened fire on the hostiles. Some dropped quickly, some others ducked behind their cover. In both cases, the opposing fire stopped. It was just in time too, as Alastar's repulsion field had just flickered out and died.

With this great field of covering fire laid down by the squad, Alastar had the chance he needed to act.

Ping... Shwoop!

He shot over the cover of one of the mercs, and twisted around as he came out of the phantom dash, striking his target squarely in the back of his head. The merc's head was sliced right open by the sword, his skull offering no more resistance than a fruit would to a sharp kitchen knife. With his head oozing blood, and other fluids, the merc dropped dead at Alastar's feet, who wasted no time moving to his next target.

Problem was though, there were more mercenaries there who weren't Alastar's target, and they'd already swung their own weapons around to take him down.

Sasha had her rifle up, selected one of these opportunistic mercs, and blam! She fired a shot straight through her target's head, and he dropped like the rest. The rest of the squad had taken similar actions to Sasha, so between them and Alastar, the second layer of security here was neutralized in a matter of moments.

Vance already knew what he needed to do, and set to work straight away setting up an interface with the monitoring station, while the rest of the unit provided cover for him. As soon as Vance had his virus uploaded to the building network, the entire security system would be scrambled, as well as the building-wide intercom system. The building's occupants may be on alert for intruders now, but without a functional security system or communication to relay orders and information quickly, the building would be thrown into chaos. All that was needed was one final touch...

Gavin was already on top of it, having found the fire alarm. With an approving nod from Sasha, the avian soldier triggered the alarm. The piercing, screeching blearing sound of it quickly swarmed through the space. Then came the sprinklers. Almost instantly, everything was soaked by the sudden, artificial downpour. It wouldn't be a problem though...

"Done," Vance announced as he disconnected from the station and packed up his gear before it got all the way soaked through.

Before the squad departed, they made sure to grab up the armbands worn by each of the mercenaries, and fit them to their own arms. It was just a simple piece of cloth with the Axiom Tech logo printed on it. The idea was to have a quick identifier for the mercs, since nearly every company that could afford to stuff their buildings with them did. It was another reason team theta-four was outfitted as 'mercenaries' themselves.

Then they moved on.

Despite the entirety of Axiom tower going haywire, team theta-four had a remarkably smooth transition through the halls, as was intended. They passed other soaking-wet mercenaries, building workers, custodial staff, and the occasional suit. As long as the incognito squad looked busy though, none of the panicking onlookers bothered them. They looked like all the other mercenaries that were hired on, and everyone else was appropriately preoccupied with the chaos team theta-four had caused.

They soon arrived at their destination: the main central elevator. As per building protocol, when the fire alarm triggered, the elevators would shut down. This freed them for use by the city's fire and rescue services, or rather, it freed the elevators to be used by whoever possessed the proper override key. Venom Intelligence had provided team theta-four with just such a key for the mission.

Sasha set the key in its spot next to the elevator door, and in a few moments, it opened up for them, and the squad went in. Just for good measure, and to keep the fire alarm active in case the custodial crew shut it off with an override, Sasha lobbed an active incendiary grenade out the elevator just as it closed. Behind the sealed doors of the central elevator, a satisfying boom and woosh was heard as the grenade detonated, shaking the entire elevator shaft as they ascended...

The squad took this time to catch their breath, reset their gear, check their weapons. This was likely going to be their one moment of relative peace and quiet, and everyone made the most of it. Vance examined the building schematics on his wrist computer, while Fletcher checked that his rifle was still in working order, Xavier took stock of the ordinance he had left, and Alastar adjusted the fittings on his armor.

Sasha Zura on the other hand, wasn't doing a whole lot at all. Strangely, she somehow found herself very calm, and at ease with the entire situation. It occurred to her that normal people shouldn't feel so... comfortable in the midst of such chaotic peril as this. But Sasha wasn't quite normal though, being part of Macbeth Special Operations, having been trained for missions exactly like this. The plan the squad had laid out during preparations so far was working extraordinarily well. They'd broken through some very tight, very prepared security, wreaked havoc on the surveillance and communication systems, and masked their presence beautifully in the process. The team was pulling together nicely through it all, and the mission objective would be obtained very soon. In truth, Captain Sasha Zura had every reason to feel as satisfied as she did.

Time to focus on the next part of the mission: the rooftop.

The team had air support ready to move in, plus that was their exit. Getting it all ready though meant securing the rooftop landing platform, which would be one of the more heavily guarded areas, even with the entire building in panic-mode. It also presented the possibility of attracting attention from mercenaries in the other towers, or even opposing air support out there.

A straight assault, with the team's limited manpower, would be far too risky. Sasha had a plan to catch most of the rooftop mercs off-guard though, and with a little determination and patience, it should work just fine.

She steeled herself. No one readied their weapons though, and simply let them rest in their hands.

The elevator door opened to a bright midday sky, the sun briefly blinding Sasha and the team. When her eyes adjusted, she suddenly flinched, because she found herself staring down at least a dozen mercs' weapons, all aimed straight into the elevator–

"Hold your fire, you idiots!" Sasha heard someone outside yell. "They're friendlies for crying out loud!"

The mercenaries looked confused for a moment, then began to relax as one of them trudged forward; the leader by the looks of him. He was a large, imposing ox, or bull –one of those sturdy bovine species– wearing a set of fatigues with some well-used armor, holding an assault rifle in his weary hands.

"You in charge up here?" Sasha asked, using the most authoritative captain's voice she had, and putting an especially annoyed look on her face. She had to look and sound the part of mercenary commander, at least for a minute...

"Yeah," the ox grumbled back with a nod. "Are you gonna tell me what in the name of Lyla is going on down there? We heard alarms, a lot of panic, and then the intercom cut out–"

Very quickly, Sasha brought up her rifle and shot the bovine mercenary in the face, ripping him down in a stream of blasterfire. Before the ox's body even hit the deck, the rest of the squad followed-suit, dropping or pinning down the dumbfounded onlooking mercs as everyone went for cover.

The firefight here was fairly straightforward now. Team theta-four easily had the advantage, having knocked out the mercs' commander, thoroughly confused the enemy force, allowing the squad to thin some of their numbers very quickly. It would just be a matter of time now...

Something wasn't right–

A low rumbling whir sounded from nearby: the sound of a large vehicle engine... A transport? A gunship? What? Sasha looked for the noise's source, and it turned out to be the very landing pad they were supposed to secure up here. A military-style gunship was taking flight, fully armed and dangerous, and it didn't look all that happy to have Sasha's crew crashing the party up here...

Think fast.

The squad needed some heavy ordinance, now. Sasha scanned around the dead mercs, the barricades, the nearby weapon caches; anywhere. There had to be some kind of air-defense system in place up here, even if it was... On one of the dead mercs, strapped to his back: a shoulder-fired missile launcher! Sasha made a dive for the corpse, relieving the dead mercenary of the missile launcher and a few extra missiles.

She glanced up to check on everyone else. Vance and Fletcher had already broken off to find cover, while Xavier and Korvyn discussed something, and exchanged some gear? Didn't matter for now, Sasha trusted that they had something in mind. For now, she needed to get some serious pressure on the gunship before it tore the squad to shreds up here.

The gunship came around the rooftop for a pass, strafing the area with a wide spread of heavy blasterfire. It didn't seem to have a specific target in mind, not right now, and was simply laying down a wide field of fire. That suited Sasha just fine, and she brought the missile launcher up to her shoulder, and... target locked!

The husky pulled the trigger, and with a savage woosh of tiny thrusters, the missile leapt from her shoulder and snaked its way toward the hovering gunship. Just as it was about to be pounded by the missile, the gunship lurched out of the way just in the nick of time for the missile to pass by, missing its target. Then the gunship trained its heavy blaster cannons on the husky...

Cursing under her breath, Sasha dove down for cover just as a deadly stream of heavy blasterfire roared past, ripping through the concrete behind her like tissue paper. She could hear the loud wail of the gunship's engines, inching closer and closer to get a better angle against Sasha, while she scrambled to load another missile into the launcher. It was a race against time: who would be ready to fire first...

There!

The missile was loaded into the tube, and with a flip of the safety toggle it was also ready to fire. She swung the launcher up and around to face down the gunship one more time. She was greeted in-kind by the gunship, with the barrels of its heavy blasters having found a clean line. The gunship was so close now, she could see the smug grin of the gunner as he lined up his shot. Both he and Sasha–

Another figure suddenly appeared on the side of the gunship's hull: Alastar!? He actually used his phantom module to spring up and cling to the damn thing?! What the hell was he thinking?! He just put himself right in Sasha's line of fire, ruining her chance to take the shot while–

Just then, Alastatr leapt from the side of the gunship to the ground several feet below him, and took off running. It occurred to Sasha that the gunner hadn't taken his shot, and that the entire gunship was listing off to the side; it looked as if it was hesitating, confused? She supposed any pilot would be a little worried if someone just sprung onto the side of his aircraft and–

With a deafening boom, a large portion of the gunship's hull was blasted away, torn apart by a fiery explosion. Sasha was nearly knocked off her feet by the sudden hot rush of air that hit her. The gunship though was much worse off as it careened away, its gaping wound still flaming from the detonation. Then the whole thing slammed hard into the ground with a screeching crunch, skidding just a bit before tumbling off the side of the building, plummeting down to its ultimate destruction.

So, that's what Alastar was discussing with Xavier earlier. He took one of the satchel charges, then planted it on the gunship with a short timed fuse. That crazy scruffy canid certainly had the wide open window of opportunity when the gunship was focused on Sasha. She had to admit, that was pretty good thinking on his part.

Sasha dusted herself off, and made a quick assessment of the area. Mercenary resistance was neutralized. Her squad was alert, weary, but otherwise looked in alright shape. Alastar was... on the ground! He was laying face-down, facing away from where the gunship had been; knocked down by the blast.

The husky rushed to Alastar's side to check on him: he wasn't moving. Sasha was suddenly in a panic, blood running cold as she bent down, then rolled him over on his back and–

"HA!" Alastar shouted as he twitched upright.

Sasha jumped back, caught by surprise, and found she was panting, and her eyes wide as she stared at Alastar... He was just fine.

"Did you see that!?" the scruffy canid asked with a laugh, sitting right there with an ecstatic grin on his face. "Poor bastard didn't even–"

Sasha cut him short with a sharp slap across his face that completely shut down whatever he would've said next, and wiped that silly grin clean off his muzzle.

"You stole my kill, you ass!" the husky snapped, throwing Alastar a mean glare. Though in actuality, she could've easily said, "don't you scare me like that again!" or something of the like. She mainly needed to keep it professional, keep it focused on the mission.

Sasha stood up just as the rest of the squad converged on the two of them, and she got herself prepared for the next phase of the mission. Now that the rooftop was secure, they just needed to signal that it was clear for the transport to land. The area was still flooded with wireless jamming signals though –no way to just patch into a channel and give them a call– so cruder methods were to be implemented. In this case, the method was a simple signal flare.

Sasha reached back to a specific little holster on her belt, retrieved the flare gun from it, and quickly fired it into the air. The little rocket shot straight upward for a couple seconds, hundreds of feet up, then burst with a loud crack in a shower of bright reddish light.

Only a few moments later, a large silhouette of shimmering static appeared on the landing pad. When it faded away, a sleek, matte black transport had materialized at the spot. It didn't make much noise either, with just barely a hum from its engines, and there were no identifying markings. The loading door on the side of the ominous craft opened up, where a small number of people disembarked to join theta-four.

At the center of this new group was none other than agent Janice Moreau herself, accompanied by a small handful of soldiers, all of them –save for Moreau– were equipped in flat black fatigues and face-obscuring headgear. They reminded Sasha of the Shadow Guard she'd seen earlier, during her brief visit with Andross. These weren't the same Shadow Guard, were they?

"Nice work," Moreau greeted with a small nod, as she looked around and saw the many fallen mercs. She didn't sound especially pleased when she said it, more like she was stating an obvious fact, and wanted to move on to the next item.

"Thanks," Sasha replied curtly. She motioned for Xavier and Vance to begin preparations for the next phase of the mission, and they set off to work.

The tiger lady stood a little taller than Sasha, bearing a sharp controlled gait to her stance as she talked with Sasha. Moreau was wearing a dark, tight-fitting coat that came down to her knees, and that look of permanent disdain on her face, which probably wasn't her fault, just how her face was.

"Cortez, stay behind and guard the rooftop," Moreau ordered to the black-clad soldiers with her, then she turned to Sasha, "Zura, you and your unit are with me."

"Understood," she replied. The unit was going back into the tower to go get the item Venom Intelligence needed.

Sasha checked over to the elevator where Xavier and Vance were at work, and they gave her a tumbs-up. The elevator had been disabled, and the rooftop stairway was now unlocked, good. That meant one less point of entry to worry about for the enemy to approach from. The next part of Operation: Bank didn't need the elevators anyway, since the target was on the upper floors, in the executive suite no less.

Sergeant Fletcher took the forward position as he opened the door and began down the stairwell. The fire alarm and sprinklers were turned off now, so someone must've gotten to the override and shut it down. It was still soaking wet though, making the stairs slick with the water, so the squad had to take careful steps going down,

"So, uh..." Alastar began, speaking with agent Moreau, "was it all really necessary?"

"Hm?" the tiger mumbled, barely acknowledging that Alastar was even there.

"I mean, blasting through security, making a huge mess of thing," the fumbling canid merc clarified. "It just seems like it'd be easier if we'd–"

Janice then cut him off sharply, throwing a strong glance over her shoulder, "Your initial incursion through the basement created plenty of chaos, plenty of confusion. That's something we can work with. All we need is to get in, get what we're after, get out. It doesn't matter if it's messy."

"Ah... right... And how do you plan to do all that, without throwing the spotlight on you, or Venom, or Macbeth?" the scruffy canid asked. He seemed to know more about these kinds of spy procedures than he was letting on... then again, he did work for Cooney, who was supposed to be a master spy.

"Neither Venom nor the forces of Macbeth are really here, you see," Moreau explained, rather impatiently too, "I've already arranged for false intelligence to get into Axiom's hands, which pins our operation on an ambitious competitor."

The squad arrived at the floor where the target was, and exited the barren stairwell.

On the other side of the door was a large, lavish corridor. Fine carpet was laid down across the floor, several pieces of art adorned the walls, and the space was lit with exquisite crystal fixtures; all of it still sopping wet from the sprinklers earlier. Security and surveillance was still scrambled though, good. The squad continued down the corridor. The executive suite would be here at the end of this hall.

And sure enough, there it was. The conspicuous blast-door lowered in place was the dead giveaway. The executive suite on Axiom tower was built in its own protected solid steel box, meant to be next to impossible to break through with anything short of heavy artillery, and even that would have a tricky time getting through something like this.

Xavier and Vance spent a few moments in panic, as they tried to figure some way through the box. Meanwhile, Moreau was already on the move. The tiger lady simply walked right up to the impenetrable steel door –to its outer control panel, actually– entered a quick several digit code, and placed her hand on the palm print reader. Sasha realized what was happening; Moreau had access here already! The husky motioned for the squad to form up for door-breach positions, then gave Moreau an affirmative nod. The tiger pressed one last button, and the great steel door groaned open.

Inside was one of the largest, most overly luxurious offices Sasha had ever seen. The central desk was as wide as a dinner table, and sitting behind it was a well-dressed, startled, flat-faced avian; one of the owl breeds.

"You!" the owl bellowed, standing up as he pointed an accusing finger at Moreau. "This was all your doing, wasn't it?!"

Moreau said nothing, but pulled a small dart gun out of her coat, and fired its payload at the owl with a quiet plink sound. The broad avian flinched a moment when the dart struck him, eyes going even wider. His hands found the dart, and tried to work it out of his skin, only to find his strength had gone. Then he collapsed to the floor with a heavy whump!

"Get him, and let's move," Moreau said, looking toward the owl's limp form as she replaced her dart gun.

"Wait... He is our mission?" Sasha asked, somewhat exasperated, and now a little worried.

"Yes," the tiger said quietly, "now let's go, before things settle down and they realize what's happening," and Moreau started out toward the exit.

Alastar looked like he was about to protest, but Sasha stopped him, placing an arm across his chest, 'barring' his path, so to speak. Sasha knew better than to openly object to what an intelligence officer told them, especially in the midst of the mission, with the officer who arranged the entire operation. Alastar gave Sasha a look that more or less said 'what the hell?', to which Sasha could only sigh, and offer a defeated shrug. The scruffy canid merc didn't look at all satisfied with that response though, and he headed toward the door in a huff, quietly grumbling to himself.

As uncomfortable as it was for Alastar, he'd do the job, that much was certain. Sasha trusted he had at least that amount of professionalism, to leave any major concerns out of the way until the mission was done, and everyone was in relative safety.

Sasha found that Gavin and Xavier had already scooped up the limp form of their target, and were following Moreau out of the office. She quickly joined them, she and Alastar providing cover as the group made its way back up the stairwell. They ultimately ended up back on the rooftop, where the black, shadowy transport waited to take them away from the tower.

The mission was a success, but it somehow left an odd, bitter taste in her mouth.

Sasha wasn't at all sure what Venom wanted with this important-seeming owl, and part of her didn't want to know at all. She'd come to expect less than transparent mission goals for special forces, it was part of the job, but even this seemed a little suspect in her mind. Why would Venom want to keep details of this mission secret? What might be at stake? The husky would have to get used to these kind of missions; she signed on with special forces knowing full-well that black-ops would be her stock-and-trade. If that meant being left in the dark for her own good, then so be it...

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Author Notes:

Hello again, and thanks for reading all the way through this! As always, your thoughts and responses are most welcome here.